"I'm sorry I was so useless and I froze and didn't help," reads a card attached to a bunch of white roses.
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Carefully written notes stand out among the red, pink, purple, orange and yellow flowers. The soft toys, candles and photos of the dead.
"You never knew me and I never knew you. However, I was present at your death," reads one perched on the head of a yellow knitted teddy bear.
"Words alone cannot convey the enormous impact your death had on everyone. Including myself."
Another written on an ace of hearts card hits hard with its simple message of regret: "I wish I could have helped more."
Melburnians gather quietly at a makeshift shrine in front of the GPO Building at Bourke Street Mall where five people, including two children, were killed on Friday. Reflecting. Praying. Weeping.
One by one, they move to place their offerings, symbols of their shared grief.
A small boy places a teddy bear with a pink bow at the edge of the mass. His mother, Shannon Devlin, kneels beside him and wipes away her tears.
"I just had to come. Its affected us so much," she says.
"I have two sons with ages similar to those who died. I asked them both to pick out one of their teddies to bring."
The teddy is one of hundreds that sit alongside a pair of pink fairy wings, children's drawings and Australian flags.
Written on a card covered with police helicopters are the words: "We're sorry, love Melbourne Highway Patrol."
Another note taped to white hydrangeas reads: "To the person that lay in the middle of the road here. We are thinking about you and I hope you will be okay."
And placed in front of some yellow wattle is a card addressed "to a beautiful lady". "Remembering you at this time, injured by the person who killed your daughter just out of your reach. All our love is with you and your family."
A man in a suit puts down some red roses.
"It's a communal grief," says Kirill Orlov, whose colleagues witnessed the carnage. "It could have been anyone."
Another office worker returns from delivering a bouquet to face the shrine.
"It's very close to home," Petar Stojanovic says, repeating the thoughts of many.
"I work just a block away. I get off at this tram stop. It's hit me at a deep, primal level.
"There but by the grace of God go we."
Witnesses and victims requiring support to call the Victim's Support Helpline on 1800 819 817.
For urgent support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Donations for the immediate families of those killed can be made via the website www.vic.gov.au/bourkestreet.html
- with James Wong and Jessica Carrascalao Heard
